The frozen food industry presently manufactures and sells frozen vegetables and sauce combination, frozen meat and sauce combination and other like combinations for in-home preparation and use. These products are typically packaged in aluminum, plastic, or paperboard trays or plastic laminate pouches. The sauces presently available are generally coated onto the surface of these food products. Cooks oftentimes find it very difficult and time consuming to accurately dispense and evenly spread a measured quantity of paste-like sauce across the surface of a food product. The problem is accentuated where the cook is preparing a number of such products, and the problem assumes even greater significance in the mass production of uniform food items.
Portion control provides a marketing advantage. Using substrate/sauce combinations in units of single-serving sizes which do not require individual packages is definitely an advantage to the consumer for in-home use since waste and over-cooking due to extended holding at high temperature are eliminated. Packaging in convenient bulk sizes saves packaging costs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,840 by Sortwell approaches this problem by enrobing the frozen portions with the heated sauce coating prior to freezing, where, upon freezing the sauce hardens rapidly without cracking or falling off. The frozen coated product may then be apportioned by the consumer into serving sizes depending on need.
The sauce utilized generally varies depending on the desired product. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,094 by Rogers et al. discloses a meat product packed in a gravy/sauce mixture. The sauce/gravy mixture has a gelatin base, and is placed at the bottom of a meat container and allowed to set. Upon cooking, the sauce mixture mixes with the exuded juices from the meat to form a gravy. Sauce mixture containing gelatin has also been used to coat vegetables and subsequently chilled to form a gelatinous block, followed by heating to produce a sauce covered vegetable as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. J6 0075-241-A by Nippon Ham KK.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,615,690 by Schampel, meat, water, seasoning, flavoring materials and gelatin are mixed together, cooked, cooled and pizza cheese is added thereto. The mixture is then solidified in a mold by chilling into a slicable block but become flowable and spreadable upon heating to 110.degree. F. Other references, such as Japanese Patent No. J5 8216-668-A by Nippon Suisan Kaisha, discloses a sauce composition containing 0.5 to 2.0% gelatin which is dropped on meat and solidified. Cooking of the meat will melt the sauce for consumption.
The above references, in general, disclose a variety of sauces, some containing gelatin. None of these references, however, disclose a sauce seasoning blend in the form of frozen particulates which remain individually frozen and free-flowing in any desired increment.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to prepare a sauce or seasoning particulate to be added to other frozen food pieces.
Another object of the present invention is to prepare a sauce or seasoning particulate which remains individually frozen and free-flowing in whatever increments desired for packaging.
A further object of the present invention is to prepare sauce or seasoning pieces which allows for easy forming without having to cut into desired sizes and resist melting or deforming at elevated temperatures.